I know everyone says LTs are much better than shorties but does anyone have proof? I am buying my headers and y-pipe here in the next month or so and was wondering what you guys really think. The guy I buy my parts from swears there is truely no difference between shorties and LTs until your getting up into the higher horsepower. What amazes me is the fact hes trying to talk me into shorties over LTs when he could probably make alot more money off of selling me LTs. Car is in the sig.

Has anyone tried this LT and Y-pipe set up from ARH? I'm really leaning towards that right now:
http://www.lmperformance.com/15431/1.html
this setup is also in question:
http://www.lmperformance.com/3652/1.html

 

hmm. I have not heard of those headers (ARH). seeing that they're stainless steel, and being so much $$, you might want to look into kooks, qtp, and others down the line if you like stainless steel. I don't know how the 1 7/8 primaries would work- I thought they were for higher HP cars-someone correct me if I'm wrong. People seem to like the jet hots, and Hooker headers also but I have no personal experience with those. my .02

 

sounds to me like you need to get parts somewhere else

 

reason being what?

Alot of people don't see eye to eye with his methods but the guy knows his stuff. The store owner has a 06 saleen and on that car alone has had atleast 4 different sets of headers and about 3 different cat-backs, swapping them all in and out cause he has nothing better to do with his spare time. He backs his theories, so please let me know why you think I should get my parts somewhere else.

 

shorties will not gain that much more over stock manifolds
Get mids or LTs

 

Unless you have a good reason not to go with longtubes..then get longtubes. The only good reason you might not is if you plan on lowering your car or if you have to pass inspections. The cost is not really that much different. If you're doing headers, do it once and be done. Its true that longtubes and shorties have similar gains on a near stock car..but if you ever decide to get into doing heads/cam or some type of power adder such as forced induction or nitrous..you'll wish you just went with longtubes to start with.

 

Go onto LS1tech and search around in the dyno section. Also, talk to some other people/shops that specialize in LS1's. There is plenty of proof out there if you want to look.

On stock to mildly modded gen 1 and even gen 2 engines I would agree on peak numbers. Mainly because the stock manifolds were that restrictive. Now what most people don't look at is the gain under the curve and that is where the LT's will pull ahead on those engines.

Now throw the deep breathing LS1 into the equation and you have a whole new story. The shorties don't give you much over a 00-02 manifold where as LT's are well documented as giving 15-20 hp gains. Plus the LT's will support future mods that the shorties won't as well.

I think you need to talk to a vendor that knows LS1's. You'll get better advise and possibly better prices.
Also, look at the QTP headers. The AR set up looks like them and seems very overpriced to me.

But, if you want to listen the the shorties header guy, go ahead. Just don't say you weren't warned when a LT car outruns you or you decide to buy LT's later because you realize the shorties are holding you back.

 

This is more of the answer I was looking for, not a simple you need to find someone else to buy from, I know its a ford guy and our cars respond differently to mods. Personally I've always wanted LTs on my car, I had mids on my 97 and always wondered if I would have been happier with LTs, but that doesn't mean i can get some input on the subject, tossing 1k-1.5k into my car isn't something i do everyday.

 

I wouldn't dump 1-1.5k into headers and Y, but thats me.

 

I'm not sure about their LS1 offerings, but I think Kooks may have some pretty good pricing going right now. Check around in the vendor forum for specials. I just bought some for my LT1. They're substantially more expensive than Pacesetters, and other non-stainless headers, but I feel good about my purchase. Headers seem like something you would only want to buy once.

 

Thats a foolish remark. I ran shorties for years, and they made all the difference between manifolds. It will not be as much as LT headers, but nothing close to a manifold.

 

Seeing how the guy that asked owns an LS1 f-body, this is a very true statement. Even more so when you are comparing shorties to 00-02 manifolds.

 

he probably means if you just drive around under the speed limit like a grandma, there is little diff between shorties and LTs. he obviously doesn't know who he's talking to he probably drives like a grandma too